06/22/2009 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • 21A-3 Married Employees If an employee's spouse is also an employee of the City, then they together are limited in the amount of family leave they may take in Article 21 for the birth and care of a newbom child, placement of a child for adoption or foster care, or to care for a parent who has a serious health condition. The limit is a combined total of 12 weeks of FMLA for both of them for these events (or 26 weeks if leave to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness is also used as set forth in this Article). Spouses employed by the City are not each separately entitled to 12 weeks or 26 weeks of FMLA leave for these events. For example if the FMLA qualifying event was for the care of a covered service member with a serious injury or illness who was the son of both employees, then one spouse could take either all 26 weeks, and the other would not be eligible for any FMLA time, or they could each take 13 weeks of FMLA for this event or some other combination as long as the total for both did not exceed 26 weeks in the °single 12 month period". Use of Paid Leave Benefits An employee will be required to substitute applicable accrued leave time benefits for all or part of the FMLA leave taken for any reason in this policy, with the exception of leave taken for the birth or adoption of a child under Article 21. In this situation, the employee has the option to utilize all of their accrued leave benefits, or take the entire leave as unpaid. These accrued leave time benefits would include sick time, vacation time, floating holidays and compensatory time, with the use of such determined by the terms and conditions as set forth in each related leave time policy. The use of this applicable accrued leave time occurs simultaneously with FMLA leave and does not extend the length of FMLA leave. An employee cannot choose to use some of their applicable accrued leave benefits, and supplement the remaining time with unpaid leave, but rather shall be required to use all applicable accrued leave time benefits until exhausted before any remaining time under FMLA shall be unpaid. Notice Requirements Military Caregiver Leave: The employee is required to provide written notice of not less than 30 days before the date the requested leave is to begin. If the leave is to begin in less than 30 days, the employee shall provide such written notice as soon as practicable. Qualifying Exigency Leave: The employee is required to provide written notice of the need for foreseeable leave as soon as practicable. The notice for either type of leave request must be provided to the Human Resources Department, with a copy to the Department Director. (Notice forms to request an FMLA leave, are available in the Human Resources Department). -44-